Presentation application programs, such as MICROSOFT POWERPOINT, available from Microsoft of Redmond, Wash., allow users to create individual pages or “slides” for presentation in the form of a slide show. Each slide may contain text, graphics, sound, videos, and other objects. Animations may be applied to certain objects in a slide, such as text and graphics, to enhance the slide show.
Currently, MICROSOFT POWERPOINT's animation user interface (“UI”) requires users to select an object, apply an animation primitive, and then adjust settings through a series of drop-down menus, spinners, and dialogs. Animation triggers include “On click”, in which an animation effect is applied upon the click of the slide; “With previous”, in which an animation effect is played at the same time as the previous item in the animation list or on load of the slide if the effect is first in the animation list; and “After previous”, in which an animation effect is played immediately following the previous item in the animation list. Navigating the current MICROSOFT POWERPOINT user interface may be cumbersome to use for some users, and may prevent others from taking advantage of the animation features included in the program.
One particular type of animation effect is a motion path animation effect. When a user wants to animate an object utilizing a motion path animation effect, the user must provide an initial state for the object, a final state for the object, and define a type of path along which the object will move when the motion path animation effect is executed. The type of motion path may be a pre-defined motion path or a custom motion path. If the motion path is a straight line, the initial state or the end state can be easily adjusted by simply redrawing the line in between the two states. If the motion path is curved, however, then additional logic that is needed to properly scale the motion path to maintain the motion path itself. Moreover, when manipulating a motion path, it is helpful to know the end state of the motion path animation effect to allow for confident re-positioning of the end state.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure made herein is presented.